thedrifter
10-01-06, 08:57 AM
The Whole Town's Talking: This dog's day afternoon includes sniffing for explosives
By DAVID MIRHADI
Star-Tribune staff writer Sunday, October 01, 2006
You've heard of bomb-sniffing dogs in schools, at airports, even ones sent in advance of a certain vice-president's arrival in Wyoming this week.
But there's never been any dog like Bessel before.
Bessel, you see, is a Belgian malinois, considered the "elite of the elite" when it comes to detecting explosives.
Bessel would seemingly be man's best friend, you see.
Except when she's at work.
Bessel is out combing the grounds of F.E. Warren Air Force Base, searching out explosives lodged in the ground of the base near Cheyenne. The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reported in its Sept. 28 edition that the test is the first of its kind in the United States.
Much of the ordnance left over is of a World War II vintage, when the base served as a training center, the paper reported. The base covers some 3,000 acres and could contain shrapnel or 75 mm rounds.
Bessel has discovered bulk TNT on the site, pending testing. For every 100 sites tested, handlers told the paper, 99 will come clean. The dogs, according to RONCO Consulting Corporation, can detect trace amounts of explosives as small as one-trillionth of a gram.
"The ability of the dogs is absolutely mind-boggling," said Paul Brown, director of canine operations for the consulting company.
Lunching with Dave
For fifth-grader Trey Kraut of Cody, lunch with Wyoming's top elected official was, in his words, "pretty cool."
Taking a break from the campaign trail, the man known in these parts as "Gov. Dave" took time out from his high-powered power lunches to enjoy pizza and a Mr. Pibb with Trey at Sunset School, the Cody Enterprise reported Sept. 27.
Kraut was chosen by his teachers for the honor as part of the Change Attitudes Now program, which promotes leadership, and rewards good behavior and citizenship.
Trey received the honor after being awarded an autographed card with Freudenthal's likeness.
Freudenthal entered the school cafeteria to cheers as he was accompanied by his wife, Nancy.
"It's been great," Freudenthal told the newspaper. "It's fun to see the kids and a great opportunity to visit a school, which is something I enjoy."
As for the governor, he was pleased with his mug.
"They got my picture without me knowing, but I'm honored."
Not to be outdone...
As young Trey Kraut was meeting the governor, Rob Brewer was recalling his own brush with our nation's top elected official.
In five years of service with the Marine Corps, Brewer has come close to the president several times, he told the (Basin) Republican Rustler for its Sept. 28 edition.
Last month, he shared an audience with Bush personally in the White House, as President George W. Bush honored Brewer and all U.S. Marines for a job well done in protecting America.
Brewer, according to the paper, is a member of the Marine Helicopter Experimental Unit, which is responsible for transporting the president and dignitaries to political functions and the president's vacation homes at Camp David, Md., and at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Brewer has plenty of memories of his escapades helping transport the president, to the G-8 summit in Scotland, and in India, and to the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
What's the most important thing he's learned?
"It was the intangibles and the discipline and the life experiences," Brewer told the Republican-Rustler.
Spider bites whom?
"Spider bites Spinder."
No, that's not a misprint. Seems a brown recluse spider bit Rosie Spinder of Shell, the Greybull Standard reported in its Sept. 28 editions.
Headline writers might be chuckling, but Rose Spinder wasn't. Not after being bitten by the spider last month. She was cleaning out the bedroom closet when she thought she had been bitten in the rear by a mosquito. It wasn't until she noticed skin hanging off that she decided something was seriously wrong. She ended up losing a lot of blood and had to visit the hospital.
But this, so far, has a happy ending, as Rosie has lived to tell her story about a potentially high death rate.
"It did spook me, and it's a good thing it did," Spinder told the newspaper.
You've got the wrong one, buddy
A Chicago detective asked a woman to check her credit report after her name turned up during a raid on a home in the Windy City Sept. 21, the Gillette News-Record reported on Sept. 27.
Chicago police found a drivers' license and counterfeiting equipment, the detective told the woman, according to Gillette police.
Only one problem: The woman said she'd never been to Chicago before, much less owned anything there.
Night editor David Mirhadi can be reached at (307) 266-0616 or david.mirhadi@casperstartribune.net
Ellie
By DAVID MIRHADI
Star-Tribune staff writer Sunday, October 01, 2006
You've heard of bomb-sniffing dogs in schools, at airports, even ones sent in advance of a certain vice-president's arrival in Wyoming this week.
But there's never been any dog like Bessel before.
Bessel, you see, is a Belgian malinois, considered the "elite of the elite" when it comes to detecting explosives.
Bessel would seemingly be man's best friend, you see.
Except when she's at work.
Bessel is out combing the grounds of F.E. Warren Air Force Base, searching out explosives lodged in the ground of the base near Cheyenne. The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reported in its Sept. 28 edition that the test is the first of its kind in the United States.
Much of the ordnance left over is of a World War II vintage, when the base served as a training center, the paper reported. The base covers some 3,000 acres and could contain shrapnel or 75 mm rounds.
Bessel has discovered bulk TNT on the site, pending testing. For every 100 sites tested, handlers told the paper, 99 will come clean. The dogs, according to RONCO Consulting Corporation, can detect trace amounts of explosives as small as one-trillionth of a gram.
"The ability of the dogs is absolutely mind-boggling," said Paul Brown, director of canine operations for the consulting company.
Lunching with Dave
For fifth-grader Trey Kraut of Cody, lunch with Wyoming's top elected official was, in his words, "pretty cool."
Taking a break from the campaign trail, the man known in these parts as "Gov. Dave" took time out from his high-powered power lunches to enjoy pizza and a Mr. Pibb with Trey at Sunset School, the Cody Enterprise reported Sept. 27.
Kraut was chosen by his teachers for the honor as part of the Change Attitudes Now program, which promotes leadership, and rewards good behavior and citizenship.
Trey received the honor after being awarded an autographed card with Freudenthal's likeness.
Freudenthal entered the school cafeteria to cheers as he was accompanied by his wife, Nancy.
"It's been great," Freudenthal told the newspaper. "It's fun to see the kids and a great opportunity to visit a school, which is something I enjoy."
As for the governor, he was pleased with his mug.
"They got my picture without me knowing, but I'm honored."
Not to be outdone...
As young Trey Kraut was meeting the governor, Rob Brewer was recalling his own brush with our nation's top elected official.
In five years of service with the Marine Corps, Brewer has come close to the president several times, he told the (Basin) Republican Rustler for its Sept. 28 edition.
Last month, he shared an audience with Bush personally in the White House, as President George W. Bush honored Brewer and all U.S. Marines for a job well done in protecting America.
Brewer, according to the paper, is a member of the Marine Helicopter Experimental Unit, which is responsible for transporting the president and dignitaries to political functions and the president's vacation homes at Camp David, Md., and at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Brewer has plenty of memories of his escapades helping transport the president, to the G-8 summit in Scotland, and in India, and to the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
What's the most important thing he's learned?
"It was the intangibles and the discipline and the life experiences," Brewer told the Republican-Rustler.
Spider bites whom?
"Spider bites Spinder."
No, that's not a misprint. Seems a brown recluse spider bit Rosie Spinder of Shell, the Greybull Standard reported in its Sept. 28 editions.
Headline writers might be chuckling, but Rose Spinder wasn't. Not after being bitten by the spider last month. She was cleaning out the bedroom closet when she thought she had been bitten in the rear by a mosquito. It wasn't until she noticed skin hanging off that she decided something was seriously wrong. She ended up losing a lot of blood and had to visit the hospital.
But this, so far, has a happy ending, as Rosie has lived to tell her story about a potentially high death rate.
"It did spook me, and it's a good thing it did," Spinder told the newspaper.
You've got the wrong one, buddy
A Chicago detective asked a woman to check her credit report after her name turned up during a raid on a home in the Windy City Sept. 21, the Gillette News-Record reported on Sept. 27.
Chicago police found a drivers' license and counterfeiting equipment, the detective told the woman, according to Gillette police.
Only one problem: The woman said she'd never been to Chicago before, much less owned anything there.
Night editor David Mirhadi can be reached at (307) 266-0616 or david.mirhadi@casperstartribune.net
Ellie